Locking device for desks and the like.



c. TIWESTMORELAND. LOCKlNG DEVICE FOR DESKS AND THE LIKE. APPLICATI-ONFILED JAN. 3, 1913.

1 ,139,94(). Patented May 18, 1915.

THE MORE-'5 ETELS CO. PHOTO-LITHO, WASHINGTON. D. C.

WVEsTMon rLAND,

CRAWFORD THEODORE'wEsTMonELANnoF l nen 30mm;mmn cmomm; ssem le TO MYRTLE'nE sK ooMPAm CORPORATION on nonrnonnonma.

' v Loonlne DEvIoE F01; DESKS AND: THE LIKE.

To all whom itmay concern v P V Be" it known that L'GRAWFORD THEODORE acitizen of the United States, residing at High Point, in the county ofGuilford and State'of North Carolina, have invented I provements in sand helike, of which .lthe followingis a certainnew and useful 'Im-.Locklng Devices for Desks specification.

This mvention relates to improvements in looking devi'ces'for desks,cabinets or. other pieces of furniture having a plurality. of

' drawers thei locking of which is controlled by some movable"portion-usually under con trolof lock and key andcomrnon to all thedrawers. For example," in the case of roll top desks it is common tocontrol the locking 7 of the tiers of drawers by. the roll; top,":,andin the c'aseof a fiat top desk to'control-the locking of a pluralityfofthe'drawersfrom one drawer, which-latter isilockedi and unlocked by akey. Itisf a common fault with devices of this character now generallyin use that thelockingmechanism for the'several drawers easily gets outoforder,'due in some cases to the more or less complex mechanismemployed, and in others to faulty .constr-uction which'will not standthe rough usage to which such mechanism is ordinarily subjected. Theidealmechanism for this purpose should be, without sacrificing certaintyof'operation, simple in construction andof such a nature as to standrough or severe operation without getting out of order.' The object'ofthis invention is to provide a locking device of the, above characterI which shall possess the desirable qualities stated.

In orderv to more fully describe my invention, rejerence'willbe had tofthe ae-Q companyingdrawmgs where1n V. Figure 1 represents averticalsectlon of a i desk offtheflat top type equippedwith a form of myinvention particularly adapted todesl rs of that type; Fig. 2, afragmentary" top plan View of the desk and "locking mechanism shown inFig l, with the flat top of the desk removed; Fig; 3, affragmentary.

section on line 3"-.3 Fig. 1, looking down, and Fig. at, a detailfragmentary perspective view partly in section of the locking mechanismshown in Fig. 1.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, 1 represents a desk of the fiattop type havinga tier of drawers 2,3 and 4:. t

Specification of Letters Patent. pat md M 15, 1 15; Y Application filedJ'anuary 3, 1 13.1 'sei a1no.;740, oa2.1 r

two brackets 5 and 5 secured to the back of a .1 I- said upright; amovable'member 8't'o whioh 1 the desk, locking dogs 6 and .7 zfulcrumedon the tailsof all the locking dogs are pivotally secured 'aseparablellextension 9"on the up l per end" of said member 8,; a spring10 connecting the member 8 and its extensions 9,

and a 'leverll fulcrumedon the stationary member 5, and pivotallyconnected'to 'the separable extension- 9.1 The'heads of theseveral" dogsare provided, respectively, with shoulder-s12 and 13', adapted'ftoengage the I inner side ofthe'rear ends ofthe drawers 3 and 4c, and withrounded cam edgeslt and 15, the purposetof whichwill hereinafter morereadily appear. The extensionjgis held in prop li by 5 i pin 16011thellppel' end ofthe m mb gg' hi h extends into a recess '17 inthefjfextension member, as shown most clearly in 'Fi'g',

The spring 10 isr'nade fast at one e'nd'to' the member Sand at its otherend to 'the'member 9, and normally holds saidnnembers to gether, asshown in Fig. 1'. ,The lever :11 is adapted "to be operated by the upperdrawer. 2 which drawer j is the" onefusu y 85, f I

ally lockedby a lock and key, and "which controls the lockingiof. theother drawers,

and for this purpose said'lever is provided with a rounded face 18 forengagement therearend'of saidjdrawer; The operation is as followsiWithfall the drawers'closed, as shown in Fig; 1 'the rear;

end of drawer- 2 abuts against thelever'll and causes thesamejto holdthe member-Sinthe 7 I position, whereby the dogs are held in the lockedposition shown; 7 'When the presI- sure 'oflthe 'end o'f the drawer 21is released] fromhthelever fl, as when said drawer is;

pulled forward, theimember 8-,drops by",

gravity, andinfldoing so raises the locking-j I 00 heads of the dogs 6and 7 clear ofth'e -tops of the rear end of the drawersfi andft,

thereby unlockingsai'd drawers and leaving them free to bejpulled out.Should'e'itherorf both of the drawers 3 and l beileftin the: unlockedposition after the top'fdra'wer is would send the ogs into the lockingposi tion, the drawers and 4 will I lock en-1.01

a. sure. In such a casethe rear ends of the s rawe s e e tweed e he Yclosed, which "position of the top, drawer 14 and 15 of the dogs andforce them up to permit passage of the ends of the drawers into lockingengagement with the dogs. In this case the heads of the dogs would yieldupwardly against the tension of the spring 10 which would extend topermit the member 8 to descend. After the drawers pass into the lockingposition, the spring 10 pulls the member 8 up and sends the heads of thedogs down to. engage and lock the drawers. The downward movement ofmember 8 and the upward movement of the heads of the locking dogs islimited by stops 19 and 20.

I preferably make the locking dogs of metal, though the lever 11 ispreferably made of wood. I do not, however, limit the making of theparts of-my invention to any special material.

The locking mechanism herein shown and described is, as will be readilyseen, eX tremely simple, and is particularly free'from liability to getout of order.

Another important advantage of my improved locking device is that thewhole mechanism, including the attachment of the upright 5 to thebrackets 5 and 5 may be assembled before it is put in the desk.

The employment of a separable member.

.such as 89 extensible against a spring as shown, constitutes a verysimple and efficient arrangement for permitting the dogs to yield asdescribed. Also, the form of looking dog herein shown may be andpreferably is stamped out of plate or sheet metal which greatly reducesthe cost of manufacture. At the same time these dogs will not split orbreak in operation as is the case with the. wooden locking memberscommonly in use. a

It should be understood, however, that while I have herein shown myinvention as applied to desks only, it may equally as well be applied tocabinets, or other pieces of furniture having a series of drawers, thelocking of which is controlled from some one movable part of the articleordinarily under lock and key, and in the claims I use the word desk ina generic sense to cover all such articles. It will be furtherunderstood that modifications may be made in the construction of thelocking mechanism itself without departing from the true spirit of myinvention.

What I claim is 1. A desk having a plurality of drawers, in combinationwith a locking device therefor comprising a stationary support, aplurality of dogs fulcrumed thereon and adapted to lock said drawers, amovable member to which the tails of all said dogs are pivotally.connected, means operative by a movable portion of the desk andoperatively connected to said movable member, and a spring mountedwholly on said movable member and forming a portion of said op- Iirativeconnection to lift said movable mem- 2. A desk having a plurality ofdrawers, in combination with a locking device therefor comprising astationary support, a plurality of dogs fulcrumed thereon and adapted tolock said drawers, a movable member to which the tails of all said dogsare pivotally connected, a lever adapted to be operated by a movableportion of the desk, and a yielding connection between said lever andsaid movable member through which said movable member is lifted by saidlever.

3. A desk having a plurality of drawers, in combination with a lockingdevice therefor, comprising a stationary support, a plurality of dogsfulcrumed thereon and adapted to lock said drawers, a separable movablemember at one section of which the tails of all said dogs are pivotallyconnected, a spring mounted wholly on said movable member and forming aconnection between the separable sections of said member, and meansconnected to one of the sections of said member and operative by amovable portion of the desk to lift the other section through saidspring.

4. 'A desk having a plurality of drawers, in combination with a lockingdevice therefor comprising a stationary support, a plurality of lockingdogs fulcrumed on said support and adapted to engage the rear ends ofsaid drawers, a movable member pivotally connected to the tails of theseveral-dogs, a lever fulcrumed on said support, and oper able by amovable portion of said desk to operate all of said dogs simultaneously,and a spring mounted wholly on said movable member and forming a portionof the 0011- nection between said lever and member, and against whichany of saidjdogs in the look ing position may yield to receive the rearend of the drawers to lock the same.

5. A locking device for desks or the like, comprising a rod or bar, aseries of locking dogs fulcrumed on said bar, a bar made in twoseparable sections to one of which the tails of all said dogs arepivotally connected,

a lever fulcrumed on the first named bar and pivotally connected to theother sections of the separable bar, and a spring forming a yieldingconnection between the sections of said separable bar. 7

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

Witnessesi L. T. RooHnLLE, E. S. RooHnLLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents.

' Washington, D. C.

